Jesus is known by the common titles of nabi (prophet) and rasul (messenger or apostle) and he was the recipient of the Injil (the gospel) to give to people (Surah 19:31; 4:169; 3:48; 4:46). As in the Qur'an, we find in the Christian scriptures that Jesus was 'sent' by God who had 'given him the Gospel' (Luke 10:21; 4:18). In Hebrews 3:1 Jesus is called rasul (apostle).

In John's narrative Jesus is spoken of as the prophet that was to come in the world and as the Messiah, the Son of God (John 6:14; 11:27). We also find that he was called a prophet by those who first heard his teaching (Mark 6:15; 8:28) and although Jesus accepted this title (Mark 6:4; Luke 13:33), he did not think of himself as just a prophet. At times he claimed that he was greater than the Prophet Jonah, David, Solomon and even Abraham (Luke 11:31'32; Matthew 22:45; John 8:54-55).